Stock Watch — 05/21/2007

May 21st, 2007 - - Filled in: Stock Watch

The list of stocks to watch that I recommended last week are all up nicely. As you can tell from the chart below, a couple of other stocks have done well since I first mentioned them including Qwest Communications International (NYSE: Q) and Star Gas Partners (NYSE: SGU). Star Gas Partners is encroaching on my “greed meter” with a 20.20% return since March 7. Also mentioned March 7, Sify Ltd. (NASDAQ: SIFY) has remained somewhat flat since, but is still one of those stocks I like alot. So, let’s keep it around. It’s only been a couple of months anyhow.

Symbol	Last Trade*	Shares	Price Paid	Gain	Dividend (Y or N)? Yield (%)
AGII	$33.90	100	$33.12	2.36%	N
COH	$48.58	100	$51.40	-5.49%	N
DEO	$84.04	100	$78.37	7.23%	Y (2.30%)
DOW	$45.92	100	$40.02	14.74%	Y (3.60%)
FMS	$49.14	100	$50.01	-1.74%	N
GPX	$10.15	100	$9.38	8.21%	N
KCI	$49.17	100	$46.90	4.84%	N
MOT	$18.90	100	$18.16	4.07%	Y (1.10%)
Q	$10.01	100	$8.50	17.76%	N
SGU	$4.70	100	$3.91	20.20%	N
SIFY	$8.44	100	$8.41	0.36%	N
SIX	$6.09	100	$5.97	2.01%	N
YHOO	$29.35	100	$26.87	9.23%	N

*Price as of market close on 05/21/2007. Past performance does not guarantee future results.

Educate Yourself
I can’t stress enough the importance of doing due diligence when taking investing advice. Even if it’s from a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), or some other licensed professional (with remarkable investing acumen like me

), doing your own research will help you understand how the company works. Who does the company sell to and why? How do they sell? How do they produce and what materials/resources do they use? You’ll gain a new understanding of its processes. Beyond that, you should get familiar with numbers like margins, returns on assets, and how to evaluate a company’s capital structure.

On the education note, I read a post over at DividendMoney.com last week. Tyler McKinna used an interesting approach to help ensure you make money in stocks. In addition to due diligence, #5 on the list discusses using stop loss orders. Check it out if you have a sec.